Laboratory work

YOUR FUTURE SPECIALITY - AGROCHEMISTRY AND SOIL SCIENCE

Step 1

(speaking-reading-speaking-writing)

1.1. Give the equivalents of the following international words and phrases:

Basis, to produce, material, foundation, nature, negative effect, biosphere, protection, civilization, resources, qualify, atmosphere, course, relevant, type, particular.

1.2. Define the meaning of the following words by word-building affixes and translate them into Ukrainian:

– nature, natural, naturalist, naturally

– value, valuable

– human, humanity, humanitarian

– active, actively, activity, activist

– to produce, produce, product, production, productive

– to protect, protection, protective

– science, scientific, scientist

– to increase, increase, increasing, increasingly

– to respect, respect, respectable, respectively

– to establish, established, establishment

– to require, required, requirement

– to qualify, qualified, qualification

– to breed, breeding

– forest, forestry, forestation, deforestation

– to direct, director, directly, directive, direction

– to locate, local, locally, location, localize, locality

– to advance, advance, advanced, advancement

– to think, thinkable, unthinkable

1.3. Learn the following words necessary to comprehend the text:

1.4. Read the text and translate it orally:

TEXT 1

1. Soil is each country's most valuable resource. Food, clothing, shelter and health of people depend on soil. Soil is the basis of agriculture. Agriculture is a human activity in which people use areas of land to produce food, clothing and other necessary materials. At present there are two main branches of agriculture – they are crop growing and animal breeding. It is also getting more and more popular to obtain a cottage either in or out of town with lots of trees and flowers – and that gave rise to horticulture.

2. Ukraine has a great potential for the development of agriculture with 43 mln. ha of farm land mainly in chornozems (base-rich Mollisols) reaching 68% of the total area of the country. Ukraine could have become a leading producer and exporter of grain and other agricultural products, but an imperfect system of economic management and the adoption of irrational technologies based upon mouldboard ploughing has caused considerable soil degradation by water and wind erosion, mainly through the loss of organic matter and increasing acidity. In addition, widespread pollution by nuclear wastes, heavy metals and various chemicals has occured, affecting the health and genetic stock of the Ukrainian people.

3. To increase agricultural productivity, halt soil degradation and restore the full potential of Ukrainian chornozems, it is necessary to introduce a reform in land use and management, as well as in new crop production systems. Today it is clear that full-fledged economic development is unthinkable without proper maintenance of the country's land resources. Therefore the demand for specialists in agrochemistry increases respectively.

4. In our University it is the Faculty of Ecology and Nature Resources Use that trains skilled specialists in agrochemistry. Founded in 1995, the faculty meets every requirement necessary for adequate training of up-to-date specialists: highly qualified teaching staff, well equipped scientific laboratories, computer classes, practical training complex and other facilities. The curricula are correlated in accordance with the newest scientific research and correspond to the latest world standards.

5. Future ecologists, agrochemists and specialists in water bio-resources study here. All of them acquire fundamental education in some basic subjects such as biology, physics, chemistry, geology, ecology, geodesy, methods of mathematical modelling, physics and chemistry of atmosphere and soil, and others. Future agrochemists must also have a clear view of some special and work-based courses such as cartography, phytopathology, basics of animal breeding, forestry, crop fertilizing, bio-technology, bio-organic chemistry, etc.

6. All these courses lead to diploma of higher school. You can get a degree of Bachelor, Specialist or Master. The specialist skills that you learn on your course are directly relevant to the job. Your training can be used as an entry to very many areas of activity, job locations and types of work-place, such as crop yielding, husbandry, horticulture, gardening, forestry, chemical industry, sciences and so on.

7. You will have a lot to learn about the particular area, and you may need to undertake further training both in the work-place and advanced courses, or at a post-graduate course at home or abroad.